Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Good wheel set?

I'm looking for a wheel set for around $400, I'm going to be riding streets only. I'm just wondering what would be my best option in my price range? I have $450 total but I would need to buy new tires, tubes, and most likely a new axle and cog for the rear since most come with cassettes.

Velomine Special

http://www.velomine.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=87_172_178&products_id=1098&zenid=gojsnabke3g3mqe1sativ5ij54

I need to start using that "got this" meme.

Loose ball hubs aren't for everyone... probably not the best choice for this guy unless he knows how and is willing to service his hubs regularly. I'm guessing he doesn't.

Loose ball hubs aren't for everyone... probably not the best choice for this guy unless he knows how and is willing to service his hubs regularly. I'm guessing he doesn't.

+1

I don't even like messing with loose ball hubs.

Deep-V

velomine

http://www.velomine.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1864&zenid=gojsnabke3g3mqe1sativ5ij54

Be bold, street use only - Velocity Chukker 36s. $175 a set and you'll have a bombproof set of wheels.

I have no clue about tightening loose ball bearings, you're correct. Keep the suggestions coming please. I've been offere Reynolds Alta wheels for $400 but I'm pretty sure that's a rip.

The chukkers look good, but they also look incredibly heavy, shipping weight says 10.0 lbs.

I have no clue about tightening loose ball bearings

Righty tighty, lefty losey. That's how you tighten a bearing.

The chukkers look good, but they also look incredibly heavy, shipping weight says 10.0 lbs.

Don't judge on shipping weight. I shipped a single spinergy and I think it was 6lbs shipping for an 860 gram wheel.

That said, it still is a really heavy rim at 650 grams.

Velocity rim weights can be found on the left here here: http://www.velocityusa.com/default.asp?contentID=580

For other components, this is a good weight list if you can't find if from the mfgr http://weightweenies.starbike.com/listings.php

If you have a $400 budget I personally would recommend going to your favorite LBS and see what they could build for you in that price range and suit your needs.

The chukkers look good, but they also look incredibly heavy, shipping weight says 10.0 lbs.

Chukkers are pretty heavy but you also need to factor in weight of the box and packing material, which can add up to more than you'd expect.

For around that you could get psimet to build you a set of deep v rims to a basic hub.

Loose ball hubs aren't for everyone... probably not the best choice for this guy unless he knows how and is willing to service his hubs regularly. I'm guessing he doesn't.

I've read that 1-2 times a year for servicing bearings is pretty common. This amount of upkeep is something I can live with.

I'll pay a shop to do it for me once, watch, and then do it myself from there.

The chukkers look good, but they also look incredibly heavy, shipping weight says 10.0 lbs.

shipping weight on pretty much all wheelsets are going to say 10lbs. Even the wheelset listed above, the DA's to open pros, had a shipping wieght of 10lbs.

That being said, they're ****ing boat anchors.

That being said, you should worry about strength over weight if you going to be riding them daily on the street.

I've read that 1-2 times a year for servicing bearings is pretty common. This amount of upkeep is something I can live with.

I'll pay a shop to do it for me once, watch, and then do it myself from there.

YouTube. I never serviced mine and they were rolling horribly. Once you get them apart, its all visual, and pretty common sense. I cleaned and re-packed my hubs in about an hour and a half. I'm sure that the next time I do it I can cut that time almost in half.

Any other suggestions as far as wheels are concerned?

http://www.wabicycles.com/GXwheels.html

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=fixed+gear+wheelset&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

http://www.velomine.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=87_172_180&products_id=1837

shipping weight on pretty much all wheelsets are going to say 10lbs. Even the wheelset listed above, the DA's to open pros, had a shipping wieght of 10lbs.

That being said, they're ****ing boat anchors.

That being said, you should worry about strength over weight if you going to be riding them daily on the street.

I made a bad recommendation based on his statement of wanting a wheelset for "the streets." If he wanted speed, that's a different beast entirely.

I'm looking for a wheel set for around $400, I'm going to be riding streets only. I'm just wondering what would be my best option in my price range? I have $450 total but I would need to buy new tires, tubes, and most likely a new axle and cog for the rear since most come with cassettes.

No, don't buy a wheel with a freehub...its not going to work. Make sure you are getting a wheelset with a track hub. You shouldn't have to replace anything.

As noted above, Velomine is a good place to start looking, but you could easily go custom for $400.

+1

I don't even like messing with loose ball hubs.
aren't you a mechanic? what kind of statement is this?

aren't you a mechanic? what kind of statement is this?
Do you not have any aspects of your job that you don't care to do?

aren't you a mechanic? what kind of statement is this?

Can you not read?

Yes, I'm a mechanic. What does that have to do with my preference for sealed cartridge over loose ball bearings when it comes to the hubs on my own bikes?

I work on enough stuff during any given day. I want maintenance of my own bikes to be as easy as it can be.

+1

I don't even like messing with loose ball.

Loose balls are never good. Neither tight for that matter.

That's it, I have nothing more to contribute.

For the record - I wasn't saying loose ball bearings "suck", just that I'd rather not deal with them.

I've been able to get my loose ball hubs to spin smoother than many of my sealed bearing hubs (Formula, Mavic) but it's such a huge hassle to have to repack them. It's not like I notice it when I'm on the bike anyways.

having cartridge bearing wheels slowly develop play is way more annoying to me. i don't see the big hassle. getting cartridge bearings seated correctly can be much more annoying than adjusting a loose ball hub. but that's just me, apparently.

I really have no standing on this "cartridge vs. loose ball" argument as I don't do much work on my bikes myself. Having said that, I think http://www.velomine.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=87_172_180&products_id=1837 looks the best so far, can anyone give me any downsides to getting that set? I should have re-stated my first post, I'm going to be riding on streets but I go fast over bumps and my front HED 3 was getting some chips and I felt it was going to crack soon, so I got rid of it.

If anyone has any suggestion for just a front wheel instead of a wheel set then please also post that, I have a rear wheel right now but it's not great.

That's a great wheelset but heavy, Phil hubs are bricks but that also means that they overengineered (in a good way).

One more thing, I don't think the Velocity's are machined and I tend to use a front brake so velocity's wouldn't really be possible.

Get an aerospoke. For the rear.

I used to run dual-aerospokes until I realized how heavy they are, plus I live in a city where Aerospokes get a lot of attention, which gets me robbed.